Well, it is almost here everyone. We are weeks away from what could be not only the most epic Marvel film of all time, but possibly the most epic film of all time: Avengers: Infinity War. A film bringing most, if not all the Marvel Cinematic Universe characters together to face their most ruthless adversary yet, Thanos. This film has moviegoers and marvel fans extremely excited, myself included. The trailer itself gives me chills and gets my heart racing. As I watch the trailer however, a thought returns to my head, a certain thought that only really appears when any Marvel movie is coming out. Where is the Black Widow movie?!
Black Widow aka Natasha Romanoff, played by Scarlett Johansson, is a character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that has arguably been underappreciated, especially in terms of getting her own film. The character first appeared in Iron Man 2 (2010) working somewhat undercover as Tony Stark, aka Iron Man’s new assistant. Since then, Black Widow has appeared in Marvel’s The Avengers (2012), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Avengers Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America Civil War (2016), and had a voice-over cameo in Thor: Ragnarok (2018).
Now to keep track, Black Widow has appeared in SIX Marvel films so far, five of which she played a main or supporting character. In the future, the character is planned to appear in both Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and the currently untitled Avengers 4 (2019). So *obviously* Black Widow is very important and holds great weight in Marvel films.
The character herself has a long professional relationship with Ironman, has a strong friendship with Captain America and even has kind of a romantic relationship with the big green man himself, the Hulk, aka Bruce Banner. However, despite having having an important role in the universe and being one of the original Avengers, Black Widow is still let without a film of her own.
Now a brief history about Black Widow and her character. Black Widow first appeared as an antagonistic Russian spy in “Tales of Suspense” issue 52 in the year 1964. She would not stay an antagonist forever however as in within a few years she would become an ally to the Avengers and soon after a official member of the team. Black Widow would eventually become associated with S.H.I.E.L.D., the marvel universes espionage like law enforcement agency, often acting as a freelance agent when needed.
Although lacking “superpowers,” Black Widow is highly athletic individual who could be considered a talented gymnast, acrobat, and even ballerina. She has been shown to be an expert in numerous forms of martial arts such as karate, judo, aikido, and more. She has also been enhanced by biotechnology to resist aging and heal quickly. Additionally, Black Widow has a great of experience with a wide array of weaponry.
Fortunately there is some exciting news on the horizon for both Black Widow and female Marvel superheroes in general. First off, there is an upcoming Marvel film that will focus on the superhero Captain Marvel. For those who don’t know, Carol Danvers a.k.a Captain Marvel starts off as an Air Force pilot whose DNA is eventually (accidentally) fused with that of an alien. Ths gives Captain Marvel (who for a time was referred to as Ms. Marvel) superhuman abilities such as super strength, the ability to fly, and the power to project energy. The Captain Marvel film is set to premiere sometime in 2019 and will star Brie Larson in the titular role.
Captain Marvel (2019) will be the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first film starring a female superhero. To a degree this is a little bittersweet, although this is a huge and long overdue milestone for the Marvel Studios, I feel the honor should have been given to Scarlett Johanson and the character Black Widow. However, as of late there has been numerous sources saying that there IS a Black Widow solo film in the works, although there still is not any news of when it will be reaching theaters.
If you don’t know, the way Marvel Studio plans there films are in phases, (here is a link to better explain) at this point the films are in phase three and will be wrapping this phase with Avengers 4 (2019). As of right now only two films are planned to come after phase three, a sequel to Spider-Man Homecoming (2019) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2020), but nothing is officially planned otherwise. So the Black Widow film is not a definite thing, yet actor Sebastian Stan (Who plays Bucky Barnes a.k.a the Winter Soldier) has voiced his interest in being apart of a Black Widow film in the future.
Hopefully the film is put into production, Black Widow is a character who is significant to the marvel universe and has made such an impact on fans that she deserves her own film, and Scarlett Johansson definitely deserves her time to show the full force of this Avenger.